Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) made gains. It rose by 79.85 points or 1.03 percent at 7,865.95 points.

The Sensex of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,697.66 points, closed at 25,850.30 points — up 259.65 points or 1.01 percent from the previous day’s close at 25,590.65 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 25,875.27 points and a low of 25,689.70 points during the intra-day trade.

The Sensex had closed the previous session on Tuesday, down 145.25 points or 0.56 percent, while the Nifty ended lower by 48.35 points or 0.62 percent.

“Positive close of the US markets on Tuesday arrested the falls in the Indian markets. Short-coverings were also observed,” Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.

“The decisive action on the bankruptcy bill by sending it to a joint parliamentary committee added more legs to the morning’s upward movement.”

Nitasha Shankar, vice president for research with YES Securities pointed out that headline index Nifty continues to oscillate in a narrow range amidst thin volumes suggesting consolidation.

“Broader markets ended in the green although underperforming the headline index. All major sectors ended in the green with handsome gains of one percent and higher,” Shankar told IANS.

“Market breadth also favoured the bulls throughout the day with 1,504 advances and 1,160 declines.”

The Indian rupee, too, gained during the day’s trade to touch its highest level in over a month’s time. It strengthened by 12 paise to close at 66.21 to a US dollar from its previous close of 66.33 to a greenback.

Both, the foreign and domestic institutional investors were net buyers in the day’s trade.

Major Sensex gainers during Wednesday’s trade were Gail, up 5.82 percent at Rs.358.25; BHEL, up 3.58 percent at Rs.172.10; Sun Pharma, up 3.52 percent at Rs.791.05; Bharti Airtel, up 2.77 percent at Rs.332.15; and Tata Steel, up 2.53 percent at Rs.263.70.

The major Sensex losers were Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), down 0.45 percent at Rs.1,252.85; Adani Ports, down 0.21 percent at Rs.257.15; Asian Paints, down 0.18 percent at Rs.878.10; and Bajaj Auto, down 0.02 percent at Rs.2,475.60.